Slowly But Surely

Baby Arugula harvested yesterday

Day by day a little bit is happening in the garden. Here’s an update.

Harvested

To date we have harvested a few radishes and a few arugula leaves. Radishes have been maturing at a rate of two to three at a time. These are usually washed and eaten straight from the garden. I love radishes.  The arugula was added to a store bought salad mix on two occasions. Both were planted Feb. 12.

Progress

The peas planted the same day are several inches high and are starting to flower. I’m glad it hasn’t heated up too much since these do better in cooler temperatures. A single cilantro plant is coming along slowly. A few scallions are peeking through the soil.

The jalapeno, green bell pepper and okra plants I bought in two-inch peat pots at Home Depot about two weeks back are in the ground and look healthy. They aren’t showing signs of growth yet probably due to the cooler weather. Though it was still early for warm season vegetables, at 98 cents each, I couldn’t resist them.

Returning Purple and White Coneflower perennials are adding leaves almost daily.

Thai Basil, Little Prince Eggplant, Lemon and Armenian cucumber that were sown March 21 have all sprouted in the makeshift greenhouse. These went in on one of the few warm days we had with temperatures in the 70s. Since then, highs have been consistently lower.

Additions

On April 4 I direct sowed the following:

Mammoth Russian and Strawberry Blonde sunflowers

Royal Carpet Alyssum

French Dwarf Double Mixed Colors Marigold

Cherries Jubilee Mounding Nasturtiums

Purple and White Coneflower

Purple Prince Zinnia

Dwarf Cherry Rose Nasturtium

Easter Egg Rainbow Radishes

Garden Babies Container Butterhead Lettuce

Purple Top White Globe Turnip

The flower seeds were sown in the corners and along the outer edges of two raised beds. The vegetables went into one of the 4’ by 8’ raised beds and a few conatiners. Spacemaster Cucumber and Bush Snap Green Beans were sown in 2-inch peat pots and placed in the "greenhouse." Everything but the Marigolds and Nasturtium have sprouted.

Two days later, on the April 6, I started the following seeds in small peat cups (most were purchased during previous growing seasons):

Purity White and Candy Stripe Cosmos

Purple Prince and Envy Zinnia

Cilantro

Italian Parsley

Lemon, Dolce Vita Blend and Genovese basils

Bush Blue Lake Snap Beans

Jalapeno, New Mex and Ancho peppers

Long Island Mammoth Dill

Bell Pepper

White Swan Coneflower

As of today, only the zinnia and cosmos have sprouted. They are currently being housed in a black seed germinating tray with a clear plastic lid which keeps the peat cups warm overnight.

I’m thinking this weekend would be a good time to start checking out warm season transplants at Capital Nursery and Green Acres. This cool weather won’t continue much longer. What do you think?